


Robots in Love

by mousapelli



Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: Getting Together, M/M, Post-Canon, University
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-01
Updated: 2018-01-01
Packaged: 2019-02-26 02:00:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13225806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mousapelli/pseuds/mousapelli
Summary: Inui can list in descending order all the ways he and Renji work well together, but he still has no idea why words come out of his mouth sometimes.





	Robots in Love

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BlueMinuet](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueMinuet/gifts).



> Written for SASO 2017, Fan Soundtrack bonus round. Featuring accidental confession, running away from your problems, and parabola metaphors.

Inui has to admit that the bluetooth, as unbearably hipster as it looks stuck to his ear like a chirping beetle, does make it much easier to chat with Tezuka as he finishes tugging on his running clothes and does some preliminary stretches.

"So I think actually reducing your reps might have a 2% increase in your ankle flexibility," he's saying as he comes into the kitchen to fill his sports bottle. Renji is sitting at the table, working on his midterm paper, and he looks up to give Inui a brief nod without interrupting him. Inui turns on the faucet and watches the sharpied fill line carefully to avoid over-dilution. "If you haven't found any of my other suggestions helpful."

"There's nothing wrong with my ankle," Tezuka says in that flat voice which is either patience or monotone from repetition, Inui's never learned to distinguish the two. "I had a rock in my tennis shoe for exactly one minute, and the deplorable luck to have it during a televised match that you happen to watch."

"Of course I record all your matches, Tezuka," Inui reminded, a bit stung that Tezuka would think that ever changed. Screwing the cap on his drink, Inui turned to find Renji watching him, obviously waiting to speak without interruption. "Hold on a moment. Renji? How's the paper coming?"

"42% completed," Renji reported, a tinge of self-satisfaction in his voice. "I wanted to know if your run will be of typical duration; if so, I believe I will be in need of both a mental break and calories by the time you have returned and cooled down. So, dinner?"

"Absolutely," Inui answered, and then without thinking, added, "Your impeccable timing is one of the many reasons I love you, Renji."

Both of them froze. Renji's eyes were comically wide, and Inui assumed his own expression mirrored Renji's. In his ear, there was the soft click of Tezuka hanging up on him.

"Running," Inui said, turning on his heel and all but falling out the door in his haste, back to Renji and gone without waiting for a response.

The first two kilometers of his run failed to calm Inui's mental state, his traitorous brain repeating the incident over and over _I love you Renji I love you Renji_ like the most terrible pop song possible stuck in his head at exactly the speed his sneakers were striking the pavement. He tried speeding up but that made the replay speed up too. The remix was no better than the original.

Why had he _said_ that? Inui asked himself when he settled into the middle of his run, the part where his body ran on autopilot and his brain thought about whatever it wanted. What had he even been trying to say? And what was Renji going to say when he came back? Inui felt his chest contract with more than the hills at the 3km mark when he thought about how well the two of them fit together as university roommates. It seemed the natural continuation of their childhood friendship and high school rivalry, to come back together again as proto-adults. Inui didn't exactly have a plan for it, persay, but saw the two of them as more of a smooth, sleek parabola, stretching out to infinity, and now Inui, _idiot_ , had just slashed a limit right down through the x-axis.

It was hard to turn back towards home, harder the closer he got, but Inui had promised that his run would be of average duration. His own internal angst was less important than breaking a promise to Renji, certainly.

Renji was still at the table with Inui came in, tapping doggedly at his keyboard, but he looked relieved to see Inui and shut his laptop without a second's thought.

"Did you save that?" Inui asked in mild horror. Renji raised an eyebrow and pushed the chair opposite his out with his foot.

"So, earlier," Renji started, then waited for Inui to fill in the rest.

"Uhh." Inui sat down but could only stare at the tabletop between his spread fingers. He had to say something, but he was scared that anything he said would just split an even bigger limiting factor between them. "I have no rational explanation for what I said. If you found it alarming, I'm s—"

"No matter how long we've known each other, you still surprise me all the time," Renji interrupted. "That is one of the reasons I love you, Sadaharu."

Inui slumped over the table with a soft groan of relief, forehead hitting the table with a dull _thwack_ , cheeks burning. He heard Renji laugh softly, and Renji's fingers were brushing through the spikes of his hair.


End file.
